


Centrifugal Force

by NotQuiteHumanAnymore



Category: X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Carnivals, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, I also don't know science so don't hold me to anything in this fic, I'm gay and stupid what do you want from me, M/M, hey look i'm not dead!, modern-adjacent au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-03
Updated: 2018-11-03
Packaged: 2019-08-17 04:17:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16509236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotQuiteHumanAnymore/pseuds/NotQuiteHumanAnymore
Summary: Anonymous asked you:Drabble prompt: Nightsilver carnival/fairground date. Fast rides and CARNIVAL FOOD.





	Centrifugal Force

**Author's Note:**

> Back on my bullshit, here we gooooooo

"So which is better," Pietro asked from across the battered wooden picnic table. Kurt could count the number of splinters that he would get from it if he risked leaning against the surface. He had no idea how Pietro was doing it without so much as a wince, but he looked entirely at home here, as everywhere, with powdered sugar dusting his fingertips and upper lip. Kurt was staunchly attempting to ignore that in favor of listening to Pietro's question, but his mind kept wandering, and the urge to make a joke about "sweet kisses" in the hopes that Pietro would take him up on the offer was growing harder and harder to dispel.  "A carnival or a circus?"

"Um," Kurt said, drawing his eyes back up to Pietro's, away from the potential danger of staring at Pietro's lips for too long, just in case the daydream of leaning across the table to kiss him decided to become a reality. He poked at the funnel cake they were sharing and thought about the question. "They are very different," He began, "With the circus, I think I am biased, because the circus was my family for a very long time." Pietro nodded encouragingly. "But this is a different experience for me." He smiled at Pietro, "I'm really enjoying it." 

Pietro grinned, and there was something akin to relief in his smile. Kurt wondered momentarily if he had been worried that Kurt wasn't enjoying himself. He smiled back and turned his attention back to the fried food, wishing he knew how to say that he would enjoy himself even just spending time standing beside Pietro, as long as they got to spend that time in each other's company.

Before long he could sense Pietro's excitement beginning to build again as the food between them slowly diminished and their conversation slowed ever so slightly into the comfortable silence maintained between friends. After a few moments Pietro pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from his pockets with an excited look on his face. 

"So, the carnival food is only step one of many. Step two is deciding what we're going to ride first."

Pietro unraveled the crumpled paper to reveal a sketchy map of what Kurt assumed were the carnival grounds. He had rated all of the rides on a five star level and quickly started going through everything. 

Kurt couldn't help it, once the shock of Pietro revealing the map had worn off, he snickered. Pietro blinked. "What?"

"When did you have time to make that?" Kurt teased. 

"I am made of time," Pietro scoffed. "But every second we spend talking about my shoddy map-making skills is a moment that isn't spent on rollercoasters, Kurt. That's not just a tragedy, that's an affront to carnivals."

Kurt smiled, ducking his head a bit to look away from the intensity in Pietro's eyes as he did so. The way his chest erupted into a flurry of butterflies was more than enough to remind him of where he was, who he was with, and the fact that if he tried hard enough, he could absolutely get Pietro to kiss him by the end of the night. He turned his attention to the map. 

"Where do we start?"

Pietro stood, stretching a hand out to help Kurt up from the table, though they both knew exactly how unnecessary that was, and Pietro was likely aware of how blatant an excuse it was, especially given that once they were standing, he made absolutely no move to let go of Kurt’s hand.

“Let’s start,” he began, drawing out the ‘a’ as he gathered his thoughts, and grinned over at Kurt, “Oh, I know just the thing.”

He dragged Kurt by the hand past the stands of rigged carnival games and fried food (Kurt would never admit to his stomach rumbling again, despite all the food he’d just eaten), a delighted smile on his face the entire way. After a moment to orient himself, Kurt laced their fingers together more firmly, let a smile of his own settle on his face and followed with enthusiasm. 

They made their way around the carnival and Kurt lost track of how many of the dizzying drops they plummeted down on rollercoasters, but it was enough to leave his head spinning towards the end, as evening fell with the sunset shining bright on their faces, he kept one arm around Pietro’s waist for balance. 

“Oh  _ heck yes! _ ” Pietro exclaimed, glee dripping from his words. Kurt looked at him, puzzled, and then followed his gaze towards... a boat. He blinked, but it stayed a boat. Pietro offered no explanation, simply steering Kurt towards the contraption as it wobbled to a stop. “They must have just added this one, I had no idea it was going to be here!”

“Vas-?” Kurt began, but Pietro was already explaining.

“You know how when you were a kid, going on the swings was  _ the best thing ever? _ ”

“Uh-” Kurt began, unsure of how exactly to phrase the explanation of ‘sort of, but also I have always been blue and therefore avoided public parks.’

“This is like that, but better. More extreme.”   
“Extreme... swings?” He remained doubtful, but the spark in Pietro’s eyes was more than enough to convince him further to the head of the line, where a girl with a mowhawk and a neon green safety vest took their tickets. 

As Kurt approached the contraption, he’d looked at enough of the mechanisms to think he sort of understood the “swings” portion, but he was distracted from truly figuring it out when Pietro led him to the back and sat him down.

All of the other rollercoasters had had safety belts or bars. 

This boat had neither. 

Pietro took his hand again when they sat and grinned at him.

“Where are the safety bars?” Kurt asked, ever so slightly nervous.

“That’s the fun part. There aren’t any.”

“Isn’t that...” Dangerous? A lawsuit waiting to happen? A terrible idea? Kurt wasn’t sure which to go with. Pietro settled himself so he was turned toward Kurt as the rest of the line filed in behind them and began to have the same revelation that Kurt did.

“So safety belts are always a good idea, sure, but what makes this ride fun is that you don’t  _ need _ them.”

Kurt looked up at where the top bar of the boat-swing was and back down at Pietro, one eyebrow raised.

“Listen, trust me. What keeps you in your seat is angular momentum, right?” Pietro had taken his hand back to gesture with it, and while Kurt was interested in the explanation, he would have rather kept hold of Pietro’s hand. “You start off slow enough that you don’t have to worry, and then the speed picks up with the height and the physics of this ride means that you won’t fall out, because the speed and force you’re moving with keeps you in place. It’s what lets me run on the sides of buildings.” Kurt felt his eyebrows shoot up to meet his hair. Okay, so that was interesting, a practical application of Pietro’s powers  _ in a carnival _ would have been explanation enough, but Kurt had decided that ‘enjoyable-death-defying-ride-with-his-almost-boyfriend’ wasn’t  _ quite _ enough the moment that Pietro had stopped holding his hand. He leaned into Pietro’s space, just enough that Pietro’s eyes widened.

“Is it safe?” He asked. Pietro rolled his eyes.

“Safe as anything,” He replied teasingly. When Kurt continued to look skeptical of his sudden science lecture, Pietro reached over with his free hand, brushing the hair from Kurt’s eyes and tucking it behind his ear. “Listen,” He said quietly, “If nothing else,  _ I’ll _ keep you safe. If it looks like something’s gone wrong,  _ poof _ , we’ll be off this ride before you can blink, sound okay?” 

Kurt leaned into the touch of Pietro’s fingers, a sharp twinkle in his gaze as he spoke again.

“Obviously if something goes wrong, I’ll be the one doing the saving,” He scoffed, and Pietro’s reaction was delayed for a moment before his smile was back in full force, even if his cheeks had gone a little pink.

“Well then you’d better hold on tight.”

Kurt, who had been hoping for this outcome, giddily pressed closer to Pietro as the mechanisms that powered the roller coaster rumbled to life. 

He was  _ definitely _ getting a kiss before the night ran out, if the way Pietro was looking at him was anything to go off of.

**Author's Note:**

> psst you should come talk to me on [ tumblr! ](scarletwix.tumblr.com)


End file.
